Professional bass angler Bobby Lane, of Lakeland, tallied a three-day bag limit of 60 pounds of bass to wrap up a wire-to-wire win at the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Eastern Open fished on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes.

“From start to finish, this has been amazing,” said Lane, who notched his first win since winning a 2009 Elite Series event on Kentucky Lake and cashed checks totalling $52,815. “It was my time to catch a big sack. I’ve been so close before.

“To have grown up on Lake Kissimmee and Cypress, Hatchineha and Tohopekaliga and to have my family here, it means the world to me. Man, this has been a long time coming.”

Thursday and Friday, Lane passed through the locks down to Lake Kissimmee, where his first-round catch included a 9-pounder and an 8-pound, 7-ouncer.

“I fished Lake Hatchineha, caught a few decent ones early and then the bite just quit on me. I ran into Toho at noon and ended up catching three quality fish,” he said.

Lane caught some of his most important fish using a ¾-ounce Duel Hardcore lipless crankbait, a Texas-rigged Berkley Powerbait Max Scent The General stickworm and a Berkley Powerbait Max Scent Creature Hawk. With all of his presentations, Lane said his Spider Wire braid played a critical role in getting his fish out of the thick vegetation.

“I got nine keeper bites today, as opposed to 20 yesterday and 30 the day before,” he said. “I fished clean today and that’s what it takes to win one of these.”

Brandon Lester, of Fayetteville, Tenn., finished second with 47-11 and earned $18,288. Drew Cook, of Midway, finished third with 43-3 and earned $13,585.

In the co-angler division, Steve Robbins, of Piketon, Ohio, made the most of his first Florida fishing experience by claiming his own wire-to-wire win with a three-day total of 26-8 to earn $30,000.

“I came down here with a buddy of mine who talked me into fishing this with him, and it’s been a great experience,” Robbins said. “I caught an 8-pound, 1-ounce bass — the biggest bass I’ve caught in my life — on Thursday and that was awesome.”
Robbins caught his fish on Senkos, a Keitech Mag Wag swimming worm and a bladed swim jig.

Of note, pro angler Tim Frederick, of Leesburg, finished 14th and earned $3,031. Frederick earned $100,200 Jan. 28 when he won the FLW Tour presented by Evinrude on Lake Okeechobee out of Clewiston. Frederick will be competing in the second FLW Tour stop which will take place on the Harris Chain of Lakes near Leesburg, his home waters Feb. 22-25. For more on Bassmaster events go to Bassmaster.com.

Blessing of the Fleet Saturday

The 47th annual Blessing of the Fleet will take place at noon Feb. 10 on the North Fork of the St. Lucie River. ED KILLER/TCPALM
Wochit

The 47th annual St. Lucie River Blessing of the Fleet and Marine Parade will take place beginning at noon Saturday on the North Fork of the St. Lucie River.

Boats of all shapes and sizes, preceded by a review boat in parade fashion, will have the chance to receive a blessing from a variety of clergy for protection on the waters in the coming year. This event, a tradition in maritime communities around the world, began when fisherman would ask clergy to bless their ships for safe voyage and good catches. There is no charge to participate in the event.

Proceeds from the event will go to River Kidz and the Rivers Coalition for their work on helping to stop harmful Lake Okeechobee discharges into the St. Lucie River.

The parade will begin on the North Fork of the St. Lucie River, where boats will assemble north of green marker No. 7. Communication will be over VHF Channel 78. There is no rain date. Assembly should begin shortly before noon, and procession will begin at 12:30 p.m.. They will then proceed south along the western bank to the anchored review boat where invited clergy will bless each boat as they pass.